Replacing and Renewing: Synthetic Materials, Biomimetics, and Tissue Engineering in Implant Dentistry

Replacing and Renewing: Synthetic Materials,
Biomimetics, and Tissue Engineering in
Implant Dentistry
Buddy D. Ratner, Ph.D.
Journal of Dental Education Ё? Volume 65, No. 12
Abstract: Hundreds of thousands of implantations are performed each year in dental clinical practice. Dental implants are a small fraction of the total number of synthetic materials implanted into the human body in all fields of medicine. Basically, these millions of implants going into humans function adequately. But longevity and complications still are significant issues and provide opportunities for the creation of improved devices. This manuscript briefly reviews the history of dental implant devices and the concepts surrounding the word Зѓ?biocompatibility.Зѓ? It then contrasts the foreign body reaction with normal healing. Finally, the article describes how ideas gleaned from the study of normal wound healing can be applied to improved dental
implants. In a concluding section, three scenarios for dental implants twenty years from now are envisioned.
Dr. Ratner is Director, University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials and Washington Research Foundation Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering. Direct correspondence to him at the Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Bagley Hall 484, Box 351720, Seattle, WA 98195-1720; 206-685-1005 phone; 206-616-9763 fax; ratner@uweb.engr.washington.edu.
Key words: dental implant, biomaterial, biocompatibility, wound healing, bone formation, osseointegration, titanium, foreign body reaction, matricellular proteins, cytokine, tissue engineering, biomineralization
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